The topic of stricter gun laws has made its way to the federal election forefront, and while Liberal Party members are all for it, the Barrie Gun Club sees it as an election ploy.
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau has promised to ban all military-style assault rifles, including the AR-15, and work with the provinces and territories to give municipalities the ability to further restrict, or ban, handguns.
The initiative includes many other plans that Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte Liberal candidate Brian Kalliecharan agrees with.
Kalliecharan said gun violence hits close to home for him and he wants tougher laws.
“My cousin was murdered at a convenience store about 15 years ago,” said Kalliecharan. “He was shot four times. I have seen the impact gun violence has on a family.”
When asked if he felt the stricter laws would only help criminals who are getting guns illegally, Kalliecharan stood firm in his belief that moving forward on the restrictions is better than not doing anything.
“What I know to be true is that we need to strengthen our gun laws rather than weaken them,” he said.
But Barrie Gun Club communications director Doug Bailey said he believes the announcement was about something else and it has nothing to do with the banning of any weapons.
“It is nothing but a diversion tactic from the prime minister,” said Bailey. “The Liberals have been anti-gun since I can remember and all of a sudden, they want to ban them? Mr. Trudeau got into trouble with the blackface issue and now needs to distract with something that doesn’t even make sense.”
There are approximately 1,000 members in the Barrie Gun Club with a 500-person waiting list, said Bailey, adding the proposed ban will only affect law-abiding citizens and not the criminals who don’t apply for licences.
“All guns in Canada are already banned. They don’t even know what they’re talking about,” said Bailey. “You can’t own a gun unless you have a licence, and those who are licensed have no desire to hurt anyone. It is the criminals who are using guns to hurt others.
"Do you think by banning the guns that the people in cities like Toronto are going to then just stop using them? It is ridiculous," he added.
Bailey also said the Liberals aren't quite up to speed on their firearms.
“They mentioned banning all military assault rifles, including the AR-15. The AR-15 is not an assault rifle, it is a semi-automatic rifle that cannot inflict the same damage as the weapons Mr. Trudeau is talking about," he said. "This is a fear tactic and diversion, plain and simple.”
The AR-15 (the AR stands for ArmaLite, not assault/automatic rifle) is unlike military assault weapons in that pulling the trigger once on the AR-15 shoots one round, whereas pulling the trigger once on assault weapons can shoot until you release the trigger.
Bailey says he doesn’t agree with further restrictions on licensed owners, either. He said the regulations are very stringent as is.
“There are long processes for someone to get a gun licence to begin with,” he said. “But to touch on how strong the rules are, my wife isn’t allowed to store her jewelry in my safe where my guns are, because I am the only one who can legally have the key. That is just an example, but you see what I mean, but there are many others.”
The question that many non-gun owners ask is typically why someone needs a gun to begin with.
“Why does someone need to drink wine?” asked Bailey. “I am a non-drinker, but I don’t tell people they can’t drink. You don’t solve drunk driving by making harder for sober drivers to get their licence.
"There is no logic to this and it is wrong to do this to those who are responsible gun owners.”
